
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 28, 1993                   TAG: 9312280122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

JOB TRAINING PROGRAM HAS MIXED RESULTS

A follow-up study of disadvantaged high school dropouts who were enrolled in a pilot program of intensive education and occupational training showed "statistically insignificant" increases in earnings for most participants, an independent research group reported Monday.

However, the New York-based Manpower Demonstration Research Corp. (MDRC) said that the federally funded "Jobstart" experiment, which operated in 13 communities across the country, led to 42 percent of the enrolled youths obtaining high school equivalency diplomas, compared to 29 percent for a control group not in the program.

"That's at least something to build on, even though the earnings results were disappointing," Robert Ivory, MDRC senior vice president, said in a telephone interview.

The study found that in the third and fourth years of follow-up, earnings gains for all Jobstart participants averaged about $400 a year. As expected, youths in the experimental group earned less than those in the control group during the first year of follow-up, because they had had less time to seek employment while in the training program, the researchers said.

The MDRC said the investment in the pilot project - about $4,500 for each of the 2,312 youths - "was not repaid through increases in earnings or other quantified benefits by the end of the follow-up period." - Associated Press

by CNB